Page:The rising son, or, The antecedents and advancement of the colored race (IA risingsonthe00browrich).pdf/429

 deemed worthy to participate in all the privileges of an American citizen.

The election of Oscar J. Dunn as Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, was a triumph which gladdened the hearts of his race from Maine to California. Alabama sent B. S. Turner to Congress; Florida, J. T. Walls, while colored men entered the Legislative halls of several states not named in this connection.

The National Republican Convention, held at Philadelphia in June, 1872, received as delegates a number of colored men, and for the first time in the history of Presidential conventions, the negro's voice was heard and applauded.

Education is what we now need, and education we must have, at all hazards. Wilberforce and Avery Colleges, and Lincoln University, have all done good service. Howard University, Lincoln Institute, Hampton Manual Labor School, and Fisk University, are harbingers of light to our people. But we need an educated ministry; and until we have it, the masses will grope in darkness. The cause of Temperance, that John the Baptist of reforms, must be introduced into every community, and every other method resorted to by the whites for their elevation should be used by the colored men.

Our young men must be encouraged to enter the various professions, and to become mechanics, and thereby lay the foundation for future usefulness.

An ignorant man will trust to luck for success; an educated man will make success. God helps those who help themselves.